Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Cupcake Shop

International University Vietnam Bachelor of Commerce Program ASSIGNMENT COVER PAGE Your assessment will not be accepted unless all fields below are completed Subject Code:| BUSM4092| Subject Name: | Applied Entrepreneurship| Location where you study:| RMIT Vietnam – SGS| Title of Assignment:| Feasibility Analysis| Student name:| Kim Koan DongPham Anh HoaNguyen Phu HaiPham Phuong Nghi| Student Number:| s3324450s3298342s3255278S3269894| Learning Facilitator in charge:| Ms. Agatha Heng| Assignment due date:| 07/09/2012|Date of Submission: | 07/09/2012| Late Submission Approval| | Number of pages including this one: (Please number your pages like this: page 1 of 7, page 2 of 7, etc)| 27| Word Count:(Main Content)| 5,558| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Having noticed the business opportunity in food, especially in dessert in the Vietnam market, Ucake’s business idea is developed. The purpose of presenting this idea is to help customers embodying their precious message into cake, the req uisite item in every celebration.This can be regarded our business idea as the current market has not provide it. Investigation revealed that choosing young people 15 to 30 living in Ho Chi Minh City as potential targets in terms of increase in population, GDP and positive behavioral change towards cake. Moreover, market research found that there are competitors with strong brand name and reputation. However Ucake can survive among the opponents with service differentiation focus strategy in which Ucake’s core differentiated service is ‘customer’s self decorated cake’.Ucake provides plain base cake, hygiene environment with fresh and diverse topping, and then customers simply come to shop and decorate their cakes easily and fast with meaningful memory supported by professional advice by Ucake’s chefs. Otherwise, customers can choose cake design from hundreds of models that suit their event. Among the analysis, first five years’ financial stat ements, showing estimated establishment cost, revenue and expense, are included to verify that Ucake is able to break-even within 3 years. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2 I. The Business Idea4 1. Opportunity description:4 . Product / service description:4 3. Description of the entrepreneur team:5 II. The Industry and Market6 1. Current Industry Analysis6 2. Market potential Analysis7 3. Competitors Analysis (referred to Appendix 3)8 4. Target market/customers9 5. Market penetration (referred to Appendix 5)10 6. Stakeholder Analysis11 III. Business Model Analysis (referred to Appendix 6)13 1. Revenue sources13 2. Cost drivers13 3. Resource requirements / mapping13 4. Investment size14 5. Critical success factors15 6. Risk analysis and management16 IV. Future Action Plan17 1. Sources of start – up capital17 . Further information needed17 3. Support needed18 REFERENCES19 APPENDICES21 I. The Business Idea 1. Opportunity description: Currently, Vietnamese people are accustome d to Western culture, so they consider cakes not only as desserts or presents for birthday, but also indispensable items in special events such as Christmas or anniversary party. This trend leads to the rapid growth in demands of cakes, especially in holiday period like Christmas (Bao Moi Newspaper, 2009). Not stopping there, people also want to make their cake becomes more momentous to suit the purpose of parties or events.However, there are still no bakeries allowing customers to decorate cakes by themselves. As entrepreneurs, this is a good occasion for Ucake to develop a business idea to create more values and options for customers through its differentiated services. 2. Product / service description: Ucake bakery that has differentiated services will be opened to make customer feel convenient and comfortable, bring more benefit, and satisfy their needs. Two main services will be developed. Firstly, dissimilar cake designs will be updated for customer to choose, and then Ucakeâ €™s bakers will make cakes exactly based on design’s offer.Moreover, customers also can prefer their own design for Ucake to implement. Although the design of cakes is sometimes not favored some customers, they still have to buy it as they have fewer choices. This problem can be solved when customers come to Ucake’s store where they have various choices and they can even ask Ucake to make the cake based on their own suggestion. Here at Ucake bakery, it sells not only cakes designed by its’ store, but also cakes customers want to have. Another service is self – decoration, which there are spaces provided for customers, and all necessary equipments are to support them decorating cakes on their own.When using this service type, customers will pay for a plain base cake, toppings, and cream to design the cake; and what is more, they are allowed to try the taste of the cream, toppings before purchasing. To help client’s better understanding of the se rvices, Ucake’s bakers are there and willing to give advice for cake decorates. The cakes can become so consequential for the receiver if people decorate it by themselves. For example, parents will be very surprised and happy if their children decorate a cake as a gift for their wedding anniversary.However, most of Vietnamese people do not have enough necessary equipments or places to decorate a cake. This issue has been recognized, and Ucake wants to generate services that give its buyers chances not only to garnish this kind of desserts but to enjoy the fun and relaxation as well when they come to Ucake. 3. Description of the entrepreneur team: A group four undergraduate students who are taking bachelor degrees in RMIT University are recently having their family businesses run profitably in the Vietnam industry.Having followed different majors with background s of serving business, marketing, design, and especially in the hospitality streams, the team has ambition of launch ing a bakery locally which is called Ucake. On that account, the team seeks for potential opportunities with creative production to help solving customers’ problem, giving them more benefits, and also generating profits remarkably for their business. In addition, each member has developed a wide spread of professional relationship that would sustain their project in positive aspect and scale through their family’s network and friends.By employing some of members’ real working experiences from their family business and other service firms, the team is expecting use their conditions and supports to start up Ucake bakery successfully. II. The Industry and Market 1. Current Industry Analysis To improve Ucake’s strategies and support the awareness towards different features affecting its business, Porter’s five forces model is applied for analyzing risks that helps Ucake to control in higher progress in the Vietnam industry. According to Rice (2010), th is model contains five typical aspects. 1. 1.Bargaining power of suppliers – Low Within the bakery industry, raw materials are vital factors that contribute to the success of a business leading to high value of products and prestige. Usually, prices of materials like flour, sugar, milk†¦ are depended on the level of quality customers want to aim at. In Vietnam, sources of suppliers for those ingredients are relatively diverse that can be derived from local grocery stores or larger suppliers. Hence, Ucake will have more options choosing dealer that are appropriate for its budget and demand. 1. 2. Bargaining power of buyers – HighNowadays, the Vietnamese people are influenced by Western cultures and tend to go to cake shops as their hobbies, especially on holidays and other events. With many bakeries throughout the country, customers are advantageous to experience excellence and different prices of various bakery shops. Besides, many youths are also interested in ma king cakes by themselves; as a result, clients have more knowledge of selecting the right cakes which are suitable for their commandment. 1. 3. Threat of new entrants – High Since the regulations and procedures of starting up a bakery in Vietnam are not so complex (Vatgia. om, 2011), which even people with small capitals can also invest on this kind of business, barriers to enter the industry here are not high. Therefore, as a new comer, Ucake faces the threat of self – decoration service imitation from other components, including existing and approaching cake shops. 1. 4. Threat of substitutes – High The level of threat of substitutes that Ucake faces is pretty high as there are many different types of food and dessert services developing in Vietnam (VietnamBriefing, 2008), such as ice – cream, yogurt, fast food, Vietnamese sweet soup, etc.Thus, clients have various options of switching to other food once their demand of consuming cakes decreases. 1. 5. Rivalry among existing firms – High At the moment, only in Ho Chi Minh City, there are over 100 bakery stores located widely, and the competition of bakeries are getting more and more intense as many large and small local bakery stores exist in the market (Phan Le, 2012). Furthermore, the local bakeries also have to compete under pressures of investments from some famous foreign bakeries, which might affect customers’ perceptions and operations of local bakeries as well as Ucake. . Market potential Analysis Regarding this area, PEST model is used to examine the environmental part for executive strategies. 2. 6. Political Due to To Loan (2008), food hygiene and safety are some of the biggest issues in Vietnam, and this issue is much cared by the government. Research Center of Business Administration claims that HACCP is the highest international license required by the Vietnamese for a firm which wants to operate in food industry. So, Ucake must have HACCP  (Hazard An alysis and Critical Control Points) to meet the Food Safety Law. 2. 7. EconomicUcake will have to take moderate rental costs, so the store’s location does not have to be positioned in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Due to Diaoconline. com (2012), the cost for a two – floored shop in district 5 is approximately 1,000USD. Cost of facility and equipment for a new venture are paid highly in the first year in terms of the good quality facilities and equipment in order to make customer feel comfortable. However, since they are fixed costs, the venture does not need to pay anymore in next few years, and maintenance costs will be paid less instead.According to VietnamBranding (2008), Vietnamese people refer Western fast food than Vietnamese. 2. 8. Social Dan Tri Newspaper (2012) states that Vietnamese people care and obverse more Western tradition and events (Christmas, mother’s day, Halloween†¦) and considers that cakes are commonly used in many parties and speci al events. This leads to high demand of cake, and especially during Christmas. Besides, in this century, people do not only want a delicious cake but increasingly care more about nutrition and health issue (Viet Bao Newspaper, 2005).So, if Ucake has HACCP for ensuring the safety of the cakes and researching some of new healthy ingredients, more and more customers will be more attracted. 2. 9. Technology As a small business, high technology is not really fundamental for Ucake. However, Ucake need to have fresh, safe and high quality ingredients. Hence, safe and clean process of making and decorating cakes are highly presented, also the bakery can cooperate with its supplier to do research and development to adjust the amount of sugar and please customers, especially that are fastidious. . Competitors Analysis (referred to Appendix 3) 3. 10. Direct competitors Regarding the direct competitive environment, generally, most of Ucake’s components are other bakeries in Vietnam, whic h are large local bakeries, small ‘cakes and cafe’ shops, and foreign bakeries. Some of Ucake’s particular competitors consist of Vietnamese ones like Brodard, Givral and Jous Les Jours bakery from overseas. Firstly, Brodard and Givral bakeries are two of most long time businesses in the Vietnam bakery industry that selling cakes and other breads.Overall, both of them supply cake orders from clients like Ucake; conversely, as their service regards to only takeaway cakes, they do not have self – decorated cake services for buyers. For Tous Les Jours which is a popular chained bakery from Korea that mainly offers clients fresh breads, cakes and other desserts, the chain presently has more than 8 stores allocated in Ho Chi Minh City. Similar to Ucake, Tous Les Jours accommodates consumers with cafe spaces, and also makes cakes through customers’ idea suggestion.Nonetheless, the Korean chain does not have self – decoration cakes and hardly to cha nge to this kind of service while their concept is consistent, and because of their large number of branches. 3. 11. Indirect competitors In this field, as Vietnam’s integration has been widely opened, different investors of foodservice gradually find opportunities in the Vietnam market. As a consequence, Ucake’s indirect competitors are both domestic and foreign foodservice businesses surrounded by the nation.Among those components, Baskin Robbins (ice –cream chains), Yogen Fruz (Yogurt chains) and Lotteria (fast – food chains) are selected to weight against Ucake’s potential. In general, all of those 3 businesses are serving consumption services apart from Ucake, and their statuses are reasonably strong compared to Ucake as a new comer. In addition, none of them contains mutually two kinds of services that Ucake has. For this reason, even though Ucake is totally new and less popular, its operation is not affected much by indirect challengers in t erms of this new differentiated variety of service. . Target market/customers (referred to Appendix 4) 4. 12. Geographic According to World Bank (2012), the GDP per capita has been increased significantly since the year of 2000. Among the provinces, Ho Chi Minh City’s population claimed the highest with almost 6,000 people in 2010. Moreover, people’s average income in the northern area is also high, which especially in Ho Chi Minh City’s was estimated the greatest with approximately 3,000 USD per year (Hoa Le, 2012) determining higher consumption compared to other regions.Hence, Ho Chi Minh is an ideal location for Ucake to plan for starting up the investment and seek to achieve good profits. 4. 13. Demographic Ucake’s targeted customers are aimed at the ages from 15 to 29 who are mainly teenagers and youths going to work as there are numerous young ages of under 30 that reach more than 50% of the Vietnam population (Nielsen, 2010). 4. 14. Behavioral Thos e groups of audience above are targeted not only because of their excess in the country population. Typically, a majority of them tends to adapt new updates of trend due to the international integration prospect and influence from other countries’ cultures.Thus, that is one of the reasons why many young Vietnamese people have interests in Western fast food and desserts by the appearance of investments regarding these kinds of food in the Vietnam market. Viet Bao Newspaper (2005) states the progressive encouragement of the Vietnamese of considering hygienic products as their vital priority for consumption in recent decades. For those points, Ucake finds it quite potential with great opportunities to set goals for achieving success through this targeted market. 4. Market penetration (referred to Appendix 5)Since the cake market is already at the maturity stage of the product life cycle, in order to enter the industry; Differentiation Focus Strategy is applied to Ucake. QuickMBA (n. d) says that Differentiation Focus Strategy can help the firm to narrow down to a specific group of customers, and give consumers the best and different services compared to its competitors resulting in retaining customer loyalty. However, there are some limitations with this tactic that Ucake’s service can be imitated or its targeted segment changes consumer needs.Guerilla marketing: Ucake has to do marketing activities strongly in the first year as it is a new and small firm in the market, and guerilla marketing is an ideal tool for new business which has limited marketing budget like Ucake. Some experts (Levinson, Levinson, & Levinson 2007) indicate that guerilla marketing is an easy and inexpensive marketing method for small business. Guerilla marketing strategy focuses on low cost, unconventional marketing tactics, and puts more time and effort to achieve maximum result. One week before the opening of the shop, some of refrigerated cabinets made by glass can be placed on public places such as parks or supermarkets. Then Ucake’s big designed cakes are displayed inside to catch people’s attention and trigger their curiosity. The slogan â€Å"Your Cake† will be put on cabinets to introduce Ucake’s business idea to clients. * Additionally, few days before the launching day, the banner of announcing the decoration contest will be also situated near refrigerated cabinets to invite people to participate. The contest will be held during the opening day.Customers can join and buy their cakes with half prices Advertising: advertisements of Ucake’s establishment day will be posted on magazines for youths and teenagers such as Tiep Thi va Gia Dinh and Hoa Hoc Tro. A Facebook page of Ucake will be created as well in order to expand the brand community. Facebook is an ideal place for us to reach large number of potential customers. Ucake’s products and other activities will be informed which are easy for consume rs to view wherever they are. This social media tool can draw customers’ interests and Ucake can receive advantages from this marketing effect. 5. Stakeholder AnalysisBeside the owners, people that influence the performance and success of Ucake’s business can consist of the customers, supplier and employees. Those important stakeholders are categorized and emphasized in 4 particular aspects in the table below. Stakeholder| Role| Level of effect| Expectation| Supposed risks| Investors| Devoting for the establishment of the business| Moderate| Making decisions in right investing and capitalizing for beneficial profits of the company| Lack of financial sources or bankruptcy would threaten the operation of the business| Customers| Consuming goods and service of the bakery| High| More usage of roducts and services from customers helping the business to gain status and revenue to compete with others| Bad comments from customers affecting the reputation of the business whethe r quality of goods or services do not satisfy them| Supplier| Supplying raw materials to the client bakery (i. e. flour, sugar, butter, milk, etc. | Moderate| Providing required quality and quantity of materials not only to enhance relationship with customers but also help generating profitable products for customers | Bad quality of raw materials supplied or late delivery time will cause unqualified products or delay in the plan of the business| Employees| Supporting and controlling the operation of the bakery| High| Adding efficient value to the business by applying their trained skills to the service and attending to customers in order to improve the bakery’s performance| Low capability, misbehavior to customers leading to decrease in turnover of the business|III. Business Model Analysis (referred to Appendix 6) 1. Revenue sources The revenue is mainly generated from two items which are customer’s ordered cake and self decorated cakes. Customer’s ordered cake is produced based on the design that customers choose from Ucake’s menu. Therefore, the price of each cake is the revenue varying due to the size and design from 300,000VND to 400,000VND. Customer’s self decorated cake is made through this process, in which Ucake provides a plain base cake and customers decorate the cake by adding toppings and creams according to their preference.The fixed revenue will be sale price of the base cake (150,000VND), and additional revenue is earned by the amount of toppings they supplement which costs 15,000VND per package of one kind of topping. Minimum of 100,000VND of toppings is expected to be just enough for decorating a whole cake nicely. Furthermore, revenue from self – decorated cakes is anticipated to be greater than from ordered cakes. Research result shows that there are no competitors providing this service at the present time. Other revenue is earned by the sale of soft drinks sold for customers in the shop, and one c an of the drink costs 15,000VND.As the price is relatively cheaper, it will not be considered as crucial revenue to ensure maintenance of business. 2. Cost drivers Number of consumers or sales of cakes will increase the raw material expense. Ucake only sells cakes, and the expense to satisfy customers’ demand will have the greatest impact on cost structures. Ingredients to bake plain base cake, such as eggs, sugar, butter, milk, salt, flour and cream, must be kept fresh so JIT (Just In Time) strategy will be utilized to decrease inventory costs.Being located nearby Ucake, the supplier (referred to ‘Resources requirements’ part) will conduct prompt delivery at lower costs in daily basis. 3. Resource requirements / mapping In order to offer satisfactory services to customers, raw materials and human resources are decisive in our business. The raw materials mentioned in ‘Cost drivers’ part above will be purchased from Tan Nhat Huong, the only local firm supplying cream, operating in Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City. The quality is as high as other foreign companies’ products.As Ucake and the supplier’s locations are geographically close to each other, Ucake can decrease significant logistic costs. Ucake needs four people to run this business. One professional chef will bake the plain base cake and ordered cake. Two more amateur chefs will work as supportive assistants to help the main chef and to advise customers decorating cake. One person will be hired as receptionist. For this job, as there is no complex calculation involved, a person with no background of accounting can also be recruited.People will be hired from the online labor market (timviecnhanh. com), and Ucake will upload specific requirements of employees and interview the favorite candidates. 4. Investment size The first financial investment must be at least 100,000USD in order to start and operate Ucake for first year. Below is the cost analysis for the first five years after opening Ucake. * Fixed cost Ucake will be opened on Nguyen Trai Street, District 5 by renting a two – floored shop . The rental fee will be 1,000USD per month which will be totally cost 12,000USD for the first year of contract.Also, other costs to operate the business like electricity, water are calculated to be 167USD per month (2,000USD / first year). * Variable cost As the cakes are baked after receiving orders from customers, ingredients are considered as variable costs. All costs related to baking process such as electricity, labor, ingredients are regarded as 100,000VND per cake. Assuming that Ucake produces 3,720 cakes per year, including two types of products based on the revenue analysis, the variable cost will be 20,000USD per year. * Semi variable cost Semi variable costs comprise two expenses: wage and marketing.The wage is for the four employees. The wage amounts for main chef, supportive chefs and receptionist are 200USD, 150USD and 10 0USD, respectively. In the initial year, monthly wage will be 600USD which adds up to 7,200USD of wage expense for the first year. Ucake will conduct marketing vigorously in the first year to present the differentiated services and gain customers’ awareness. The annual cost is estimated to be 5,000USD. * Non recurring cost Equipments like baking ovens, furniture, and shop renovation costs will be spent before launching Ucake shop. All the equipment costs are calculated approximately 50,000USD.Sum of the first year’s costs are 96,000USD. However, in case of not covering expenses by the revenue, 4,000USD is needed as a back-up fund when Ucake meets unexpected costs. Hence, the first investment cost should be 100,000USD to cover the whole first year and half of second year’s expense. The first investment fund of 100,000USD will be recovered at the end of third quarter in year 2. Even though the price of cake is cheaper than other consumer products like electronic d evices or automobiles, huge profit margin of cake will allow the business to step up from survival to growth level. 5. Critical success factorsDuring the investment process, there are two main critical success factors of sustaining Ucake’s operations. First of all, one of the most vital elements for a bakery to accomplish is the role of the head baker. A head baker needs to have long time experience in baking and decorating cakes. Yet, this is still not enough. Cakes are quite attractive to many people, but customers have begun fussier about this kind of desserts over time due to changes of their perceptions about nutrition and safety of goods (Viet Bao Newspaper, 2005); thus, the head baker has to update consumer's behaviors and apply ethods that are adequate with their demands. For instance, he can use fresh cream instead of butter cream to reduce the fat of the cake’s topping cream for making buyers more secure as regards their health. In addition, he is in charge o f planning and estimating the number of sellable cakes per day to verify profits for the bakery also encourages products sold within 24 hours upon baking and avoids surplus of stock. Another critical success factor of Ucake is the quality of customer services.As a bakery providing self – decorated cakes, in order to serve the customer’s needs, it is significant to hire a group of staffs that meet the working standard for this new type of service. Basically, the staffs need to have limited knowledge about cake’s basis and skills of decorating cakes for instruction whether their buyers cannot garnish themselves or need assistants. Besides, they are to support customers in providing them options of cake toppings shapes for their self – decorated cakes, directing them to park vehicles, and make the shop atmosphere hygienic and convenient for them.With those points, Ucake can expect to match the criterions of services and keep its customers satisfied. 6. Risk analysis and management Among the risks, some distinguishing points strongly affect Ucake’s enlargement that need to be aware and administrated in terms of its business conception. The first threat that Ucake might face is that the idea of customer self – decoration services can be imitated by others which is estimated with high chance.As being appeared at the maturity stage, products of Ucake are common in the industry, except that its services are developed to a different standard and have never been applied by other competitors. Nevertheless, although self – decoration is new and unique compared to others, this concept does not require so many sophisticated progressions to implement the services; in consequence, other bakeries, including existing and potential ones, can easily reproduce Ucake or create similar serving styles even if Ucake tries to protect its company via Intellectual Property Rights registration.Copying service is an unavoidable problem to Uc ake; still, Ucake would be the pioneer in applying self – decorated cakes for clients in the market, so it is an extremely cautious period for Ucake to deliberate its growth as well as gaining customer loyalty by performing satisfactory products and services once it is first publicized. Additionally, the moderate possibility of employees’ misbehaviors to customers throughout their serving mission might occur. During the business, employees have high responsibilities in making clients feel worthy with what they pay for the services and want to return to Ucake again.On the other hand, employees are sometimes negative effects of discouraging customers of using services due to their slow serving or bad attitudes, and this would be very dangerous for the bakery because customers have diverse options of bakeries to prefer. As a consequence, Ucake needs to spend a period of time training the employees carefully with some particular rules of the bakery before the store’ s launch to look forward to attaining effective services satisfying its consumers.What is more, employees should be praised with rewards or other incentives whether they do their job well in order to increase their productivity in addition to Ucake’s efficient services. IV. Future Action Plan 1. Sources of start – up capital Ucake is a relatively small size in aspects of budget, establishment cost and labor wage. The business model analysis shows that Ucake requires at least 100,000USD as set up cost. There are three possible financial sources to raise the fund. * Angel investment: Ucake will open a business plan presentation to potential angel investors to persuade them that it is a feasible business.Angel investors will receive corresponding amount of return related to their investment size. * Loan from bank: Banks allow the Vietnamese to receive loan if credibility is guaranteed. Ucake will summit five years of financial budget and business plan to convince that Uca ke is a trustable business. 50,000USD is the amount Ucake plans to receive from the bank as a loan. * Financial supports from acquaintance: four owners of the business are running their own family business and being successful. Ucake can be financially supported by their families. . Further information needed Ucake lacks legal knowledge about food market. As a result, the future operation of the bakery must be checked and advised by a law firm called TopicLaw. TopicLaw will support by providing standard of food and necessary licenses for Ucake to run the bakery such as sanitation of bakery, safety of equipments. Also, as Ucake’s business idea is very easy to be copied, it should contact with consulting firm to protect the Intellectual Property Rights. The consultation will be about patent registration.The Target market analysis shows that the targeted market is quite potential. However, Ucake must implement further surveys before opening to identify what kind of toppings and decoration style that the target market prefers. It is vital to run regular survey on customers’ feedback and preference after setting up Ucake in order to maintain competitive advantages in such dynamic food market. 3. Support needed Due to the fact that parents of the four Ucake’s owners are successfully running family business overcoming economic crisis, they can be consultants of Ucake.External environments cannot be consistent as Ucake assume. Therefore, their parents may recommend direction of future operation and performance of Ucake. Excluding law firm and consulting firm which was mentioned in ‘further information needed’ section above, Ucake is looking forward to surviving and growing in the target market without further outside supports. REFERENCES Bao Moi 2009, ‘Nhon nhip thi truong banh chao don Giang sinh’, Baomoi, viewed 28 July 2012, ;lt;http://www. baomoi. com/Nhon-nhip-thi-truong-banh-chao-don-Giang-sinh/54/3636052. pi;gt; Da n Tri 2012, ‘Ngay cua me: Net dep van hoa phuong Tay di sau vao nep song Viet’, Dantri, 11 May, viewed 28 July 2012, ;lt;http://dantri. com. vn/c130/s130-594592/ngay-cua-me-net-dep-van-hoa-phuong-tay-di-sau-vao-nep-song-viet. htm;gt; Dia Oc Online 2012, homepage, DiaOcOnline, Ho Chi Minh City, viewed 29 August 2012, ;lt;http://www. diaoconline. vn/sieu-thi/loc/-tp_tphcm-quan_131-diaoc_15/;gt; Hoa Le 2012, ‘Thu hep khoang cach thu nhap giua cac tang lop dan cu’, TapChiTaiChinh, 24th April, viewed 12th August 2012, ;lt;http://www. tapchitaichinh. n/Qu%E1%BA%A3ntr%E1%BB%8Bn%E1%BB%99idung/ViewArticleDetail/tabid/56/Key/ViewArticleContent/ArticleId/7989/Default. aspx Levinson, JC, Levinson, J ;amp; Levinson, A 2007, ‘Guerilla marketing: easy and inexpensive strategies for making big profits from your small business’, 4th edn, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. 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VietnamBranding 2008, ‘Fast food Viet – bao gio? ’, VietnamBranding, 25 June, viewed 20 April 2012, ;lt;http://www. vietnambranding. com/thong-tin/phong-su-thuong-hieu/4610/Fast-food-Viet—bao-gio> World Bank 2012, ‘Vietnam GPD per capita’, TradingEconomics, viewed 12th August 2012, http://www. radingeconomics. com/vietnam/gdp-per-capita APPENDICES Appendix 1: Service Prototypes 1. Cakes baked and cream frosted by Ucake’s chefs. 2. Ucake provides options of toppings for customers. 3. Customers choose favorite toppings and pay at the counter. 4. Cakes and toppings are brought at customers’ tables. 5. Customers decorate cakes on their own or with the assistance of Ucake’s staffs. Appendix 2: Uca ke staffs’ job description Staff| Function| Head chef| The person who has long time knowledge and experience of working in the bakery industry.Typically, he holds good recipes of cakes and manages every baking step to ensure the cakes look stunning and tasty. | Supportive chefs| These chefs can be amateur and to assist the head chef in doing the baking process and help instructing customers towards self – decoration services. They also direct customers in decorating cakes whether customers suggest. | Receptionist| Has a responsibility of managing the quantity of toppings, charging bills of customers and reporting the revenue daily to owners. | Appendix 3: Direct and Indirect competitors analysis 3. 1. Direct competitors

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Paying Attention to Foreign Affairs: How Public Opinion Affects Presidential Decision Making Essay

              The foreign policy of United States has been altered since the era of George Washington. Even though Americans pay consideration to counsel of their respected founder, this is not enough because the world is different. Many people who have shaped the American foreign policy currently, admit the fact that membership to the world community makes United States not to ignore the significance of getting along. One of way in which public influence has or can influence foreign policy is through political leadership, this means that those politicians lead the American public to embrace certain issues. Research have shown that most Americans are ill formed and uncertain on foreign affairs because it is thought that leaders generally disregarded mass inclinations when making their foreign policy choices. Another way is through political responsiveness whereby normal politicians set aside their own principles and obediently follows the public opinion (Knecht and Thomas, 2010). Recent research shown that American public both holds foreign policy opinions and cares about foreign affairs that are normal and constant.                For any society that decides to terminate the period of discrimination, it must face the alike ethical dilemma. For instance, if everybody is given the right not to be discriminated against race, there is high probability of helping those victims who undergone past discrimination and the racial inclination is lost. Moreover if those members of the earlier omitted groups are preferred on basis of race then there is denial of right to prevent racial discrimination among other people. In my opinion generating a program is the best idea since it will assist much those victims who had suffered such unethical treatment of racial discrimination in past instead of applying racial preference. This program will fulfil the racial non-discrimination rule because the basis for help would be individual hurt and not racial identity. However, it will only assist a portion of those who are now benefiting from race-based confirmatory act (Higginbotham, 2013).               Due to frequent exhibitions of racial discrimination, it is evident that in some areas of the world and by governmental strategies centered on hatred or racial superiority, for example the apartheid, racial segregation is an ideal issue in any human society. However, the issue of affirmative action was suggested during reconstruction period which led to U.S civil war. When the battle ended, those groups of people who were in the southern region owned nothing and had inadequate skills which could help them to earn a living. The groups appealed for equal rights and wanted opportunity in the public grounds of employment and education to be equal. In various ways, they succeeded and as affirmative action developed, however, it portrayed rise of criticism from whites and men who viewed it as an â€Å"opposite segregation†. The debate over affirmative action has rotated around a collection of highly charged words, which sometimes complicates, instead of enlig htening the discussion. Therefore it is significant to note that affirmative action play as a control where discrimination has been found to exist or approved. Goals serve as one measure of non-discrimination and of the efficiency of affirmation achievement efforts, not as a directive for female employment or minority (Raza et. Al, 1999).               The implications of international economic policy on foreign policymaking has become more difficult in the period of globalization since the number of players that require to be engaged along has increased. Referring from the traditional foreign policy, only few number of governments could deal with each other on moderately number of issues in accordance to the established terms and conditions. Currently, however, that cannot apply for national interests to be considered. There is now, in accumulation to rising number of countries, an innumerable of fresh players which want to be considered as awn domestic addressees as well as the domestic addressees of the countries wants powerful economic units (Burns, 2010). References Burns, R N, Jonathon Price, Jr J. S. Nye, and Brent Scowcroft. The Global Economic Crisis: And Potential Implications for Foreign Policy and National Security. Aspen Institute, The, 2010. Print. Higginbotham, F M. Ghosts of Jim Crow: Ending Racism in Post-Racial America. , 2013. Print. Raza, M A, A J. Anderson, and Harry G. Custred. The Ups and Downs of Affirmative Action Preferences. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1999. Print. Knecht, Thomas. Paying Attention to Foreign Affairs: How Public Opinion Affects Presidential Decision Making. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010. Print. Source document

Monday, July 29, 2019

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society

An Analysis of South Park, The American Adult Animated Sitcom and The Issues It Tackles In Society South Park is an American adult animated sitcom, a production of South Park Digital Studios, LLC that started airing on August 13, 1997, till now. with 20 seasons and over 270 episodes in total, South Park has received numerous awards and even ranked as the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time by TVGuid. Being famous for its dark, surreal humor that covers a wide range of topics including social problems, politics, and internet sensations. South Park became a popular entertainment among adults all over the world, mainly in the United States. Although South Park had been famous for its well-scripted comedy that applies to different situations, groups and even individuals, according to Roland Barthes’s concepts discussed in Mythologies, there are still tricks played on us that causes us to invest in the ones in greater power willingly or even wholeheartedly. Through the book Mythologies, Roland Barthes shows how truths are hidden behind the banalest and natural aspects of everyday life. According to Barthes, things often present themselves as being natural, therefore, are transparent to the public. His analysis of different â€Å"natural† mythologies today reveals the ideological nature of the products. Barthes considers Myths as speech, that it is a system of communication which bears meaning in itself. He expresses his view on how every symbol conveys a meaning, unlimited by the nature of the symbol, be it a text, an image or even human actions. As Barthes explained in Mythologies â€Å"Every object in the world can pass from a closed, silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, for there is no law, whether natural or not, which forbids talking about things. A tree is a tree. Yes, of course.† (Mythologies 1972 p.1) He considers every cultural product as a symbol itself, conveying at least a meanin g conditioned by a myth. Any cultural product can be analyzed and reviewed in Barthes’s consideration since there is always a realm of second-class signification which distinguishes its symbolic meaning from its denotation through analysis. Barthes’s explanation of his analysis in the article ‘The Romans in films’, â€Å"Signs ought to present themselves only in two extreme forms: either openly intellectual and so remote that they are reduced to an algebra, as in the Chinese theatre, where a flag on its own signifies a regiment; or deeply rooted, invented, so to speak, on each occasion, revealing an internal, a hidden facet, and indicative of a moment in time, no longer of a concept†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Mythologies 2009 p.28) Applying Barthes’s concept presented in Mythologies on South Park, as an American animated sitcom, it often expresses people’s view and thoughts through comedy and satire, presenting themselves to be true and universal. Ironically, similar to its own c haracteristic of presenting ideas through imaginary characters and stories, South Park is actually a fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. Its use of comedic approach to expressing ideas and thoughts increase social acceptability on transgressions. It also decreases the viewers tendency on voicing out, through fulfilling their will of express and reflecting on social issues or problems when they are enjoying the show. The mixing of highly-realistic setting and contents with surreal situations cuts back imagination and expectations of the public on different aspects. South Park slowly dull viewers’ individual and critical thinking and tricks them into being an easier public to mass media or governance by slipping ideas and myths into the show. South Park is famous for its use of humor relating to social issues or taboos, the use of comedy encourages the acceptance of transgressions such as racism and sexism. South Park often over-exaggerate public’s reactions and social problems to create comic yet relatable stories or situations. Although it is considered done ironically to encourage social participation or awareness, it also encourages social acceptance on transgression. Suggested by Brain L. Ott, ‘South Park does not simply depict the violation of social taboos; it enlists viewers participation in them. By watching the show repeatedly transgress the boundaries of social acceptability, public complete the communication circuit vital to the shows violations.’ (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.41-42) The constant violation of social taboos in the show made viewers dull towards transgression, which increases their acceptance of the violation of social taboos. In South Park season 20, the theme focuses on internet trolls, the 2016 United States presidential election, and nostalgia. Multiple social taboos are comically discussed and over-exaggerated, in the episodes of the 20th season, numerous racist, sexist jokes and ideas are presented. In the episodes, the Member Berries speaks of memories of older days some quotes that over-exaggerates nostalgia like â€Å"Member when there werent so many Mexicans?†, â€Å"Member when a white man kissing a black woman on national television was considered daring?†, â€Å"Member when interracial marriage wasnt legal?†[1] are racist comments relatable to Americans. Similarly, sexist jokes about women being not funny and irrational are constantly made throughout the season, such as â€Å"Whats the one thing women dont have? Semen and a sense of humor.† Not only in one or two seasons but throughout all airings of South Park, offensive jokes or remarks and extended use of slurs and foul languages often appear in the show . Since it is considered as an â€Å"Adult-only† sitcom, viewer automatically considers them to be only for comical effects. The overuse of offensive jokes with the excuse of â€Å"only for comedic effects† slowly dulls viewer’s negative feelings on the violations of social taboos, by creating the myth of not needing to take violations of social taboos seriously if it’s comical. With long-term exposure of such remarks and language, viewers are unconsciously brainwashed into the acceptance of transgression, believing that it’s not a serious problem. South Park fulfills the viewers’ needs of expressing and reflecting on social issues or problems through the fictional characters’ highly-relatable expressions on up-to-date topics, which my decrease the viewers’ need of expressing themselves in real life. According to Fiske, â€Å"Cartoons and comedies frequently invert normal relationships and show the adults as incompetent, unable to understand, and the children as superior in insight and ability.†(Television Culture 1992 p.197) South Park uses the same tactic, revolving around four 4th grade boys, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, and their bizarre adventures. In season 19, the adult’s greed leads to the growing intelligence of online advertisements, while the children are the ones understanding and noticing the problems, being the main force of defeating the â€Å"evil ads† that the adults had created. The reverse in relations are even more vivid in Season 2 0, some adults trolls and bullies people online leading to a potential world war, adults fail to resist the temptation of nostalgia that causes poor decision making, and professionals failed to complete the right formula for the discovery of a new energy; while all the problems are solved with the children’s intelligence and insights. In all episodes of South Park, it’s the children often speaking the truth or intelligence with surreal abilities and ways, while adults are often the ones who cause trouble. As Brain L. Ott had pointed out, â€Å"They are invited to engage the show and the world not as responsible individual adults, but as children at play. Such liberation is an intense but fleeting pleasure because when one turns off South Park, he or she must re-enter the world of social rules and conventions.†(Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.44) The highly-relatable expressions in the show pleasure the viewer’s need of expressing or reflecting on the s ocial issues and problems they encounter, leading them to believe that their thoughts are similar to concepts and ideas presented by only children with their surreal abilities. And since they are invited to engage the show as children at play, the viewers’ will to express or reflect on those topics are automatically diminished when they turn off South Park. Not realizing that the show had invert the relationships, showing the children to be superior in insight and ability, viewers are tricked into believing in the myth of being a responsible individual adult, is to not fully expressing and voicing out their own thoughts. South Park uses highly-realistic, up-to-date setting and contents but adds in some surreal and imaginary situations. Although the surreal situations on realistic events actually reflect the viewers’ imagination and expectations, the situations often turn out to be delusional or disappointing, which cuts back the viewers’ imagination and expectations on different aspects. The setting and characters are highly relatable and realistic. The show mainly locates in the fictional small town that is within the real-life South Park basin in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. There are prominent settings, including bus stops, the local elementary school, even various neighborhoods and the snowy landscape. Actual Colorado landmarks and the shops and businesses along the towns main street, are also prominent and are based on the appearance of similar locations in a real town in Colorado— Fairplay. The choice Colorado is simply because of the creators, Trey Parker and M att Stones origin[2], but the realistic setting made the show easily relatable. The shows do not only create relatable characters but also uses real names and persons, depicting an extremely realistic social setting. Although the show is highly relatable and realistic itself, each episode of South Park opens with a simple disclaimer— †All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone. The comical disclaimers remind viewers of its fictional content while the truth is that most of the content is based off real-time, up-to-date events of since each episode is written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast. Since they are based off real-time events, expectations and imagination of the public on related topics are also depicted, such as the common expecta tion of Americans on NASA having great discoveries on projects of Mars, or the wish of having a peaceful cyber-community. Just like all the other common depiction of dreams or expectations, the expectation on great discoveries of Mars as well as the dream a peaceful cyber-community turns out to be dilution and disappointing in South Park Season 20, since the project on bringing mankind to Mars is destructed by an explosion and first mail of the newly built cyber-community is still about trolling. Both situations is a common imagination or expectation of the public, but through the mixing up of realistic characteristics with scripted delusional outcome, viewers might unconsciously expect the same delusional outcome in real life. They might cut back their own imagination and expectations on different aspects, believing in the myth that imaginations and expectations will always end up as a disappointment. â€Å"One learns how to watch South Park as surely as one learns how to take in Shakespeare (we learn for instance that Kyle is almost always right and Cartman is almost always wrong; that if Kenny dies, he most likely will be back again in the next episode; that Chef’s advice invariably has more to do with libido than with the actual problem at hand, and so forth)† (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.19) Ironically similar to the hidden rules among the characters in South Park as well as the show itself being an American animated sitcom, South Park is actually a scripted fiction that tricks us into benefiting the more powerful members of the society. The show slowly shapes the viewers into an easier public for mass media and governance through the myths hidden in the show itself, causing viewers to be more accepting on transgression, being less criticising on social issues, and being less sensitive to the cutting back of imagination or expectations. And by simply putti ng on a disclaimer and listing itself as a satirical American animated sitcom for adult viewers only, South Park can protect itself from all the possible critics with the expectation of the viewers themselves.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Aviation Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Aviation Security - Research Paper Example This brings out the need to tighten the global security mostly within the airports that forms the target of terrorism attacks. This paper will focus in details on the issue of terrorism, its impact on aviation sector, and efforts that have been made to curb terrorism. According to the United States department of defense, terrorism is systematic use of prohibited violence, or threat of violence to instill fear, with the aim of coercing or intimidating government and societies in pursuing political, economic or ideological goals. It is a criminal act that usually influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. The terrorist, the victim and the public in general are the three perspective of terrorism. In most cases, he terrorist view themselves as not being evil but have the belief that they are combatants who are legitimate, fighting by whatever means at their disposal for what they believe in. On the other hand, the victim of a terrorism act views the terrorist as a criminal who has no regard for human life at all. The terrorist is meant to believe that in whatever he does he will get the backing of the general public for this cause (Adweek, 2003). Terrorism has been used in the past as a strategy by a number of people while other perpetrators consider it a holy war and thus obligated to take part in it. In spite of this a lot still has to be considered based on the different school of thought. When looked at critically, it is a weapon used by the stronger in the society to suppress the weaker ones. Terrorism uses power which is coercive in nature and military tactics are employed in terror acts. It is difficult to ascertain the magnitude of terror attacks because the attacker’s organization is not easy to understand and do something about it in short period of time (Adweek, 2003). That is the reason why such preemption

Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults Annotated Bibliography

Should juvenile offenders be tried and punished as adults - Annotated Bibliography Example The practice of trying and punishing juvenile offenders as adults is not consistent throughout all criminal justice systems as some systems still believe that juveniles should be tried in the juvenile courts no matter how grievous the crime might be. The perception in some justice systems is that trying children in adult courts would have an adverse effect on the children as they could likely have some sort of psychological problems. This paper would try to establish whether or not juvenile offenders should be tried and punished as adults. People that would likely benefit from this paper are lawyers, prospective lawyers (law students) and the public at large. It should also be pertinent to note that people that are interested in the case of juvenile delinquency would also gain a lot from the details of this paper and the research work. This study would try to accomplish the fact that a child is considered an adult for the purposes of administering justice when the crime committed is not a case of juvenile delinquency, but a very serious criminal act and this underlines the importance of the study as it would be helpful for cases of juvenile delinquencies. Books, internet sources and other relevant sources would be used for this work. Some of the questions that would form the basis of this paper are: Why are some children considered adults for the purpose of administering justice and are transferred to adult courts? What kind of crime would a child commit for the offence to be qualified as an adult crime?

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Electrical and electroinc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Electrical and electroinc - Essay Example It provides high gain in signal process. Despite this, positive feedback is prone to oscillations, poor frequency response, prone to more distortion and prone to more drift. This is where the feedback signal is 1800 out of phase with the input signal. In this scenario, the feedback is in such a way that it opposes the input signal. In negative feedback circuit, the feedback signal is connected in such a way that it is out of phase with the input signal. As a result, the feedback signal subtracts from the input resulting in lower amplitude output signal as compared to what could have been in the absence of the amplifier. 1. Gain stability. This is because the general gain of feedback amplifier is independent of internal gain and only is dependent on the feedback ratio. Also, the feedback ratio solely depends on passive elements which include resistors and amplifiers. Oscillation occurs when the feedback system is unable to find a stable steady state since the transfer function can’t be satisfied considering this scenario, the system becomes unstable when 1+AÃŽ ² = 0. Crystal oscillators are advantageous over other type of oscillators. This is because in case excitement, they oscillate at precise frequency because of the mechanical make associated with it. When compare to an electronic oscillator, its frequency can be made to shift with

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Film War Horse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Film War Horse - Essay Example There are two eminent scenes of cavalry march, one at the Salisbury Plain and the other at the Western Front. The latter turns not a good gesture for Joey, as he falls into the German enemies’ hands where he’s left with no militia tasks. There he’s used to pull German ambulance cats, bring artillery to the barracks and is surrounded by two German solders that keep an eye on him. This attitude was new to be observed as most war movies never portray the life of prisoners of war. These watchers also include an old Frenchmen with his little granddaughter. These episodes have heart-touching moments. There are a number of well-depicted battle scenes, including a suicide attempt at the cavalry march and the great battle of â€Å"Somme†. But in each of these scenes the horse and the human relation is prominent. This relation starts at the very beginning of the movie, when an irresponsible and a poor farmer purchase a horse at the auction which was too expensive fo r him to carry. His son loved it and named it Joey. His son Irvine set up his mind to train his horse so that they can easily travel in that barren land. During the training and because of the love Irvin gave Joey, a deep essence of relationship developed between the two. This horse became there only weapon to tackle the difficult conditions when the war of 1914 broke out. In the upcoming days, Joey faced a number of hardships. Each one that saw it adored it’s beauty and spirit for work and involvement with human mind. To facilitate the spectator the film †war horse† is divided into sections, each image showing up different actions and acts and never allowing the audience to draw away their eyes from the movie. The scenes of war travel through slow-motion mud. The horse â€Å"Joey† companies us throughout the story while his masters and stories twists in every part of it. If we talk about the individual character of Joey, he was not neither compelling nor c apable enough to carry the whole story on his own, rather he’s the side stuff of this masters that carry him throughout the story. 2, what scene in the film "moved" you the most emotionally and stimulated intellectual thought? Why? The rural life as depicted in the film based on a poor family of Albert and his wife, who are struggling to bring up a farm to earn their livelihood, shows the responsible yet yoke life of the region. The starting scenes showing the bonding of Joey (horse) and his first master Albert are quite a bit awkward to me, but most spectators appreciate the glimpse of troubled gooses. The scenes of farm life are dragged a bit more than necessary until the sharp turn Alberto’s father take after he sells his horse to the cavalry officer.    Now Joey is in the hands of a French young girl who also adored him of its beauty. But the German solder forces him to drag more and more artillery, before a before a dramatic film tic sight of its dash through th e channels before getting knotted in snide cable in the war field.    The battle scenes depicted by Spielberg are a state of the art marvel of sight and sound. It shakes the entire cinema with the sounds and thunders of bullets and cannons. He’s not afraid to show you the inside of the battlefield that may blow your head and heart. The blood shedding and

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Dismissal Meeting Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dismissal Meeting - Term Paper Example Stewart & Brown (2008) outlines that the manager must keep himself prepared to deal with the expected negative emotional reactions. The supervisor or manager can award the employee with a generous compensation package (Kinicki & Williams 2009). The package could offer the employee economic benefits to reflect on the point that the management understands and is compassionate of the dismissal’s impact. Secondly, the company or manager should make an effort to find another job for the dismissed employee. This could mean researching with colleagues, business partners or friend to check if there is any recruitment taking place or if there are any openings (Holihan, 2006). In addition to this effort, the manager or the company should cover the expenses for the employee’s career counseling and provide an on-site resume writing training to the employee. This can cause loyalty from the employee being laid off (Stewart & Brown 2008). Third, the employer should fund a psychological counseling to the employee (Kinicki & Williams 2009). Many employment consultants outline that those who have lost their employment or jobs experience difficult stages of grieving. The psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross stated that freshly laid off individuals experience a wave of emotions that run from anger to shock and denial, bargaining, stress, depression and finally acceptance (Holihan, 2006). Such stages need psychological counseling. The manager can offer, in agreement with the company, to fund such processes. According to Holihan (2006), prior to the meeting, the manager must provide the employee with a notification. The employee must have prior information of that there is a meeting. However, the manager shouldn’t give information of the meeting before the actual meeting is held. Second, the manager should set up a meeting. A face to face meeting with the employee is often preferred (Stewart & Brown 2008). Dismissal should never be communicated over the phone, by email or

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

What systems are used to effectively manage service quality in the Essay

What systems are used to effectively manage service quality in the hospitality industry Discuss and evaluate the benefits and issues that arise from a strategi - Essay Example The strategic systems available for measuring quality of service delivery involve revenue enhancement strategies, routine and in-depth staff performance evaluations and tools which are directed specifically at the firm’s clientelle. This project discusses the aforementioned strategic tools whilst also highlighting the potential positive and negative outcomes of these approaches to measuring service quality. One dimension of service quality pertaining to customer perceptions of the appropriateness of service delivery involves the functional elements of service delivery, such as the tangible methodology of practice regarding how the service was delivered (Miguel, Silva, Chiosini & Schiitzer, 2004). These delivery elements include basic concepts such as the friendliness of staff members, availability of staff, quality of food preparation, ease of check-out in the hotel environment or any other aspect which involves the facility and the service aptitudes of the industry’s internal staff (Grossman, 1999). From a different researcher perspective, these elements of service delivery are categorised as interaction quality which directly involves the customer-staff interventions and associations during the process of patronising the hospitality firm (Alexandris, Kouthouris & Meligdis, 2006). The strategic approach to measuring the quality of the aforementioned aspects of service delivery can be accomplished, in theory, in a distinct process: Assessment of customer-based revenue streams utilised comparatively to changes in service methodology to determine a correlation between frequency of customer re-visit to the facility and changes to the service delivery practices in the firm between strategic groups. As a step toward strategic revenues management, the process of obtaining the firm’s highest conceivable revenues based on the sale of the firm’s total capacity (Ng, 2006),

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Assignment - Essay Example Whenever a company starts the main operation in a particular region the initially grow steadily and then exponentially. However after a certain phase the company enters a stagnant phase, during this phase many companies realize the importance of approaching other geographical markets for growth. When the global recession had hit the US and Europe market many companies predominantly operating in those geographical area realized the importance of taking their products to growing market. The BRIC countries namely Brazil, Russia, India and China, have been recognized by many companies as markets which have lot of potential. Many of these countries have a substantial population of growing middle and upper middle class people. The increase in disposal income per family has made these countries, a lucrative target for many. In business globalisation denotes more market share, growth and profit making. The farther is the reach of a business the more customers and revenue it is bound to achie ve (Tandon, p.29). Technology has been an important element in facilitating the globalisation. Technological advances in Information Technology have helped companies to operate their global operations more efficiently. A company that has to set up an operation in a foreign geographical region has to initially relocate their strategic team to establish themselves in the foreign market. ... IT also enables these companies to operate globally by enabling them to handle their clients from distant location. IT companies themselves are biggest advocate of globalisation. Most IT companies work for businesses in various geographical areas growing their network globally. Technological development and advances have indeed made the world a smaller place. These technological advances make it possible for operations situated miles apart interact with each other have formal meetings within few minutes without physically relocating. Technological advancement in transportation also has made global operations easier for companies. Travelling from a location to another also has become easier for the managers. One manger is able to handle several geographical areas due to these technological advancements. Technology also helps in keeping the operations located in various locations have a common identity. One of the main aspects of globalisation has been to utlise the resources carefully and efficiently. Each geographical market has a unique resource quotient that gives a comparative advantage to that market. The companies try using these resources in such a way that maximum profit can be harnessed, this makes globalisation a rewarding option for companies also. Globalisation also enables consumers with the power to choose. The consumers are given wider option due to globalisation are in a position to demand better and efficient service (Ramos, p.1-30). One of the most complicated issues for companies opting for globalisation is planning resource management. Resource management is the back bone for any company. The operations will operate according to the plan only if the human resource planning is done in an intelligent way. Right person for the right

Poetry essay Essay Example for Free

Poetry essay Essay ?How does Owen Sheers use language, form and structure to explore ideas about separation and division in ‘Winter Swans’? The Poem ‘Winter Swans’ seems to convey a strong theme of natural love. The poem begins with setting a scene of a peaceful day, where nature seems to be stilled after the torrential weather that is referred to in the first line through ‘The clouds had given their all. ’ It goes on to say that there was then a ‘break’, and throughout the poem the poet uses words such as ‘silent’ and ‘rolling’, ‘stilling’ and ‘slow-stepping’ to capture this scene of peace and serenity, as if the world was resting after being thrashed about by a storm. With the idea of a natural love, there comes the confusion and the inartificial knowledge that love is not materialistic, a feeling and something that can not be brought on by force. Through all natural love stories come feelings of hurt and division. A separation that brings the subjects closer and strengthens the emotion. Sheers uses the theme of leaving, and then returning, or rage, and then peace, or the unknown, and then the known to reoccur throughout the poem, eventually strengthening the love, which could be argued as the main emotion of the poem. The poet also uses imagery such as ‘lakes and ‘swans’, to symbolise the peacefulness, and also to symbolise love. You notice words that show the subject is not alone, with ‘we’ and ‘our’. These words and also the motion of the swans, the lake, and the peacefulness are foreshadowing that the poem will take a turning onto love that is more literate. However I don’t think that the poems theme is so much about love in particular, but about a natural love, a natural pull that brings two people together even after hard times. Sheer’s uses Swans as a metaphor of love, the way swans will smoothly dip in and out of the water, and how they are known to curve towards and away from each other as if dancing on ice. They are the perfect example to show the way love will draw away and then come back. He uses vocabulary ranging from ‘silent’ and ‘rolling’ to ‘righting’ and ‘rough’ to show the separation and how quickly the emotions get confused, and how quickly compassion will turn into anger, and vice versa. The poem begins referring to this in the first stanza with weather, as raging storm. And then a ‘break’. The poet then adds on ‘in which we walked’, showing possibly that the subject and whoever they are with also went through a hard time, but are now peaceful along with the nature. In the fourth stanza it describes the swans ‘halving themselves’ in the ‘dark water’, to portray a hard time, but then ‘returning again like boats righting in rough weather’ It then moves onto the poems only piece of speech, â€Å"they mate for life. † Which rounds off the conclusion of the theme of the poem, that although there are hard times, they will always be pulled back together. The poem then shows this also applies for the people, as at the beginning of the poem it describes them as being ‘silent and apart’, but right at the end it shows them holding hands, symbolising how they are together. The poem’s theme is concluded with comparing them to a ‘pair of wings settling after flight’, to show that finally, the emotion has strengthened, and they can settle after the confusion and separation.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Paul Mahajan Rupinder Khabra Discussion Essay Example for Free

Paul Mahajan Rupinder Khabra Discussion Essay Briefly discuss the requirements for effective MRP. The requirements for an effective MRP are having accurate master schedule, inventory records, and bill of materials. If these inputs are not accurate it will be impossible to have accurate MRP results. The results of the MRP are requirements for end items into time-phase requirements for subassemblies, components, and raw materials. So this shows why the accuracy of our inputs is of utmost importance. If we get the accurate inputs then we get accurate outputs. The outputs of MRP can be changes, order releases, planned-order schedules, inventory transaction, performance control reports, and planning reports. 12. 13 Contrast planned-order receipts and scheduled receipts. Planned-order receipts are the quantity expected to be received by the beginning of the period in which it is shown. Scheduled receipts are open orders scheduled to arrive from vendors or elsewhere in the pipeline. So we can see that planned order receipts are supposed to arrive before the scheduled period and scheduled receipts are orders that are open and can show up anytime during the scheduled period. Critical thinking exercise 1 I believe Juan Villa should only use those methods if the required data matches the data needed for the EOQ/ROP methods. We need to follow a method that is best suited for that situation. If we have the forecasted demand and the guidelines follow the ones of the EOQ method then we can think about using that method.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Child development and social learning theories

Child development and social learning theories The three theories that I want to talk about are social learning theory, psychoanalytic theory, and psychosocial theory. These are three theories that have related to me in so many ways. However, there were also quite a few discussion questions, which related to some of my experiences in life. Throughout this course, I also will talk about what have learned taking this course. One assignment being experiential learning this assignment made me think about what I have accomplished and different experiences that I have a lot through over the years with my family and how I am raising my children Child development focuses on sciencetific studies and processes of stability in human children. There are many changes that children go through during development or being domains of development that consist of physical,cognitive,and psychosocial development. Psychical development is a child that may have problems with development of their motor skills, for example, a child that may not learn how to walk until they are two years old. Cognitive development a child whom has problems with speaking around others may have tendencies of being shy. Psychosocial a child that may have low self-esteem and social acceptance, these three domains are very important during child development that is why it is very important what children see and do during these stages this has a major affect on their lives. Influences on development There are many different influences on children many influences come from heredity are culture, race, and religon. The environment is also a major influence on children being raised in poverty can have a big influence on children most children think beyond and in their adult lives they become successful and many children settle for less and continue to live their lives in poverty. Culture has a lot to do with influence for example Jehovah witnesses they do not celebrate many holidays and being a child raised around this type of environment will look at the world with different perspectives. Basic theoretical issues However, basic theoretical issues many children are active and passive in their development. The English professor John Locke held that a young child is a tabula meaning blank slate at how they look at society. Children have their own internal drives and needs that influence development there are five major perspectives and theories of child development. Psychoanalytic learning, cognitive, contextual, and evolutionary, this considers evolutionary and biological underlings of how a child behaves. Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic are views development of the unconscious forces that motivate human behavior that is referred to as psychoanalysis. The unconscious mind lies outside vague and boundaries of consciousness these things are too painful to remain in the conscious part of the mind. That are considered as repressions this is the egos defense mechanism. this could be many different things that people are unaware of these are thing that lead to serious mental behaviors in my earlier discussion question I said that these are things that trigger OCD patients they are so used to doing things like washing of the hands so much they are unaware that they are doing it too much. According to Freud2008, the ego is an aspect of the subject that emerges from the id that are biological, inherited, and unconsciousness of sexual drives and irrational impulses. The ego also develops the ids acceptation with the world. The stages of child development would include super ego is placing rules and demands of re ality. The ego demands both the id and the superego that may be called constructive acceptance that are demands made both by id and super ego these are important to mental health. Self identity and gender identity are also important stages the child realizes to identify them self of who they are and who they are going to be gender identity would be the child would be the child realizing if they are boy are a girl they are developing of self concept. Psychosocial crisis at different stages of development Crisis that develops at this stage of development would be depression the child has to much pressure to meet certain expectations and feeling to overwhelmed or the child has permissive parents that have made the child feel ashamed about what he or she is supposed to be doing. Low self-esteem child has no self worth about what he or she are doing they may also have identity crisis not really knowing who they are in this world. This is the main reason why we have so many children that commit suicide it is very important that we show our children love and support no matter what they may be doing in during this stage of development this will matter as they grow into adults. Social learning theory However,learning is very important during child development this learning comes from observing others behavior. Social learning is a transition between learning theories and cognitive learning theories. Observational learning is learning by choosing models to imitate when a child has watched someone do something for instance, my daughter has watched me fold the linen over the years now she helps me fold this is because she has learned from watching me since she has been a baby. Observational learning is very important this is a very critical time in a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s life they want to learn and do everything possible. Bandura makes a distinction between learning through observation and imitation of what has been learned. There are four conditions that are used before a person can model behavior paying attention being able to remember having the ability to replicate and motivation being able to show what they have learned throughout the observation process. Modeling behavior Modeling teaches new behaviors influences frequencies and encourages many different behaviors. Self efficiency plays a big role in learning the child has to be able to believe in themselves in order to have confidence to succeed towards the learning process this affects behavior because if they do not believe in their self they will not feel successful in doing certain activities. Self-regulation is also important this is when one has their own ideas of choosing what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior setting standards and goals. Self-instructions are strategy that teaches learners instructions to guide their behavior this would be cognitive modeling, external guidance, selfguidance, and self-instruction. Associative learning, and Psychosocial tools Associative learning are two kinds of learning operant conditioning, and classical conditioning classical conditioning being would be fearing something this fear would be from something that has happened to someone for instance a tornado if you have experienced something like this every time you hear strong wind this can make you become fearful that another tornado may hit. Operant conditioning would be for example, if a child is rewarded for good behavior in school, it is most likely that the child will always show good behavior to receive rewards. Classical conditioning is a natural process of learning different from operant conditioning this learning involves voluntary behavior learning from consequences. Cognitive learning theory Cognitive learning focuses on the thought process and a behavior that reflects on these processes J Piaget (1896-1980) described to processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt assimilation and accommodation. Both of these processes are used in life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment. Assimilation is the process of using or transforming the environment and placing them in to structures. There are four stages of development in cognitive development the sensiormotor stage this is a period of development when thie child demomstrates activities and knowledge of the world. Pre-operational stage is when the child demonstrates the usage of the memory and imagination. Operational stage is when the child shows actions that can be reversed. Formal operational stage the child begins to use egocentric thoughts intelligence is demonstrated. At this stage of development it is very important that we challenge our children ablilities during this developmental stage. Infromation processing Information is a process that explains cognitive development by analyzing the mental processes that are involved in perceiving and handling information. This processs consist of usage of the brain. Vygotskys(2008) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“ theory says that the brain is similar to the computer.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  This approach helps researchers to estimate the intelligence of a child. Different studies are put into place to see how much data can be stores in the brain. This is put into place to study and to put a handle on the conscious an uncouncious parts of the memory for example, the child memory is very difrrent from the adult memory for instance there is generic memory that comes from remembering basic routines that a child may do on a daily basis. Script would be from repeated or familiar events that take placethis could be a family gathering. Episodic memory are longterm memories this is a family vacation. Autobiographical memorys are events that take place in a persons life that have spec ial meaningthis could be a memory that had negative affects on the child and is always remembered because of that. Memories have a lot to do with information processing if a child is unable to remember this can affect the way that they learn, and also affect the developmental process. My experience taking this course This course has taught me a lot about child development new things that I have never thought about before. I will be able to utilize these new skills when I am done with this course. For instance, you think about things that may be going on in your everyday life you also a good understand about child development, experiential learning was one of my favorite assignments. For example, experiential learning for me is the best way to learn I am the kind of person that if you show me something one time I take it and run with it. I also enjoyed talking about Psychoanalytic perspective I learned from this perspective that there are th ings that people do on a daily basis without even realizing that this is being done this has a lot to do with the unconscious part of the brain.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Euthanasia, Physician-assisted Suicide and Our Aged and Frail Populatio

Euthanasia, Physician-assisted Suicide and Our Aged and Frail Population Is the attitude of   Americans toward the old and frail evolving into the attitude indicated in the following episode? In Indiana, a nurse suspected of killing as many as 100 people is on trial, charged in the deaths of seven elderly patients. Orville Lynn Majors Jr., 38, began serving as a licensed practical nurse in a Clinton, Indiana hospital in 1993; months later, other nurses observed an abnormally high death rate in the hospital's intensive care unit whenever Majors was on duty. On one occasion Majors was found, syringe in hand, at the bedside of a woman who had died unexpectedly; the patient had been scheduled for discharge the next day, and an autopsy suggested that an injection of potassium caused her death. Autopsies on other patients uncovered enough evidence to go to trial in seven cases. A statistical study showed there was a patient death in the ICU every 23 hours when Majors was on duty, but every 552 hours when he was not; however, statistical evidence was barred fr om the trial. Reportedly Majors had also told others that he thinks elderly people are "a waste" [New York Times, 8/31]. Numerous US studies have established that the Americans most directly affected by the issue of physician-assisted suicide -- those who are frail, elderly and suffering from terminal illness -- are also more opposed to legalizing the practice than others are: * A poll conducted for the Washington Post on March 22-26, 1996, found 50% support for legalizing physician-assisted suicide (Washington A18) Voters aged 35-44 supported legalization, 57% to 33%. But these figures reversed for voters aged 65 and older, who opposed legalization 54% to 38%. Majorit... ...l.. "Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: attitudes and experiences of oncology patients, oncologists, and the public." 347 The Lancet 1805 (June 29, 1996):1809 Humphry, Derek. "What's in a word?" Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization 1993, Table 1-A. Koenig, Dr. Harold et al.. "Attitudes of Elderly Patients and their Families Toward Physician-Assisted Suicide." 156 Archives of Internal Medicine 2240 (Oct. 28, 1996) Lee v. Oregon, 891 F.Supp. 1429 (D. Or. 1995), vacated on other grounds, 107 F.3d 1382 (9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 328 (1997). "Poll Shows More Would Support Law Using Gentler Language," TimeLines (Jan.-Feb. 1994):9 Washington v. Glucksberg, 117 S. Ct. 2258, 2262 n. 7 (1997. -- -- --. 117 S. Ct. at 2272, quoting United States v. Rutherford, 442 U.S. 544, 558. 1979. Washington Post, April 4, 1996.

Ethnography Essay -- Reflexivity Anthropology Essays

Ethnography Works Cited Missing Reflexivity is a qualitative method of research that takes an ethnography one step further, displaying the personal thoughts and reflections of the anthropologist on his informants. Ethnographies generally take an outside or foreign perspective of a culture, like reading a text, and reflexivity introduces a new component of inside description. Here, the anthropologist may describe personal interactions and experiences with natives and use this inside information to make additional conclusions about the people being studied. The ethnographer may also reflect on his ethnic connections with his informants, or his acceptance into the society, explaining that it provides valuable, inside knowledge of the culture and ultimately leads to a greater understanding of the native people as a whole. The importance of reflexivity is illustrated in Dissolution and Reconstitution of Self: Implications for Anthropological Epistemology, by anthropologist Dorinne Kondo. Her reflections lead her to realize that she has lost, or has almost lost, her identity as an American anthropologist and now sees herself as a young woman of Japanese culture. "What occurred in the field was a kind of fragmenting of identity into Japanese and American elements, so that the different strands, instead of interweaving to form a coherent whole, strained and tugged against one another" (78). As she became so immersed in the culture, Kondo began to understand and adopt cultural aspects that are unique to the Japanese, a thus adopted a new identity. At first, she practiced Japanese behavior to be socially accepted and gain the respect of her host family, but she was so successful that community members began to regard her as a fello... ...and to view cultures differently in general. Some Anthropologists with postmodernist ideologies view cultures as "messy text", which is "the most complex and interesting form of experimentation with ethnographic writing now being produced" (Marcus, 187). The influence of Postmodernism also lead to the emergence of reflexivity. Various styles of reflexivity now exist, such as feminist, sociological, and anthropological. Reflexivity contributes to "messy text," because it identifies many cultural aspects ethnographers cannot explain nor understand and thus cannot be fitted, neatly into structure. Reflexivity is also influencing ethnographers to develop new approaches in studying culture. As we have reviewed in several ethnographies this semester, we see that personal reflections of the anthropologists is just as significant to fieldwork as the 'outsider' descriptions.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Student Athlete Recruiting :: Recruitment Sports Essays

Student Athlete Recruiting Lamarr Monterio, a sophomore wide receiver at Northeastern University, propelled his high school football team, Oliver Ames, into a winning team. â€Å"I was the first player to be recruited for a Division I school in years,† Monterio said. He broke numerous state records and received a lot of publicity as a corner back at Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Massachusetts. He said that he started to receive letters from recruiting schools right before he started his junior year. â€Å"I probably got 12 shoe boxes full of letters. Senior year is especially hectic because coaches call and visit a lot,† said Monterio. The NCAA has a set of rules, which universities follow for recruiting, and it states that a Division I college recruiting a high school player can start sending printed materials on September 1st of an athlete’s junior year. This can include official academic, admissions and student information, any publications or videotapes published by the college, and any general correspondence. The general rules by the NCAA state that the activities by coaches or boosters that cause a player to become a recruited prospective student athlete are: †¢ Providing an official visit †¢ Placing more than one telephone call to the recruit or other members of the family; or †¢ Visiting the recruit or any other member of the family anywhere other than the college campus. The universities that sought interest in Monterio were the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Northeastern University, University of Rhode Island, University of Connecticut, and the University of Maine. They sent him many letters and videotapes during his junior and senior year at Oliver Ames. The coaches from these universities also visited Oliver Ames to watch him play. Recruits are allowed five visits, official and unofficial, to colleges. The college covers the expenses on an official visit. The recruits have to provide their own transportation on an unofficial visit. Monterio chose two universities for an official visit, which were Umass-Amherst and the University of Maine. â€Å"During the day I spent time with the coaches, administrators, and advisors, and from then on I spent time with my host,† said Monteiro. Prospective Student Athletes (PSA) are often given a host, usually someone who has something in common with the PSA, to show them the school’s campus and other places in the area where the school is located. Monterio said after discussing his visits with his family and comparing Umass-Amherst to the University of Maine, he decided to go to Umass-Amherst.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

My recount – Match of the Day

I checked my watch for the third time in five minutes, willing it to be three o'clock. After a ten minute wait which seemed to last hours, I headed eagerly towards the front door on a cloudless summer afternoon. This was it – I was on my way to watch my first senior match at the Emirates! I twisted and turned through the winding, crowded streets of people chanting and singing; glorifying ‘the Gunners'. Peering through the sea of red and white shirts, I found my friends and pretty soon, we joined the waves of supporters. Every sense in my body was tingling as I heard the optimistic songs of the passionate fans; with the smell of hot dogs, chips and burgers hanging in the air. The street was a river of Arsenal shirts, with rows of policemen on the banks. We all strolled past underground station, admiring the remains of the old stadium along the way. At last, we curved round the final corner and arrived at the Emirates. I gazed up and gawped in awe at the monumental grey blocks ahead of me. A roar erupted inside, the match was starting soon. Breaking out of my trance, I continued following the mass of people towards the ticket barriers. As I scanned my ticket and squeezed through the narrow gates, I realized just how loud things were. Echoes of laughter floated from the canteen; of excited children chatting incessantly about their predictions and of others asking to go to the loo. I was inside the stadium, but not at pitch-side yet. Everything around me was still grey, from the smooth walls of concrete to the thick grey slabs on the stairs. It was as though the stadium had not been completed; like a parking lot, it had not been painted at all. However, I would soon find out why. As I trotted up the broad stairs as fast as possible among the thousands of fans also making their way up, I was caught completely off-guard when I entered the stands. The effect was phenomenal. The bright green grass of the pitch couple with the intense red ring of seats took my breath away. If there was ever a sight for sore eyes, this was definitely it. Inside, the stadium looked like a colossal spaceship. I was thoroughly dumbstruck, it was much better than I had imagined. Smells of delicious fast food jumbled with the smell of freshly mown grass lingered in the air, creating a whole new sensation and slapped me in the face. The chants of the Gunners Faithful were contagious, and by the time I found my seat, I was singing along at the top of my lungs. The stadium was jam-packed with people. Spectators filled every seat available and every space to stand was taken up, yet somehow it was rather spacious. There was enough room to sit down, stand up and even stretch easily. The smooth, cold, metal handlebars in front of me were comforting to touch among the rows of strangers. In any other context, fully grown men with beer-bellies ranked along young boys, singing their hearts out would seem totally bizarre. Everything happened with such fluency, I realised that this is what happened game after game after game. Suddenly, the players came marching orderly out of the tunnel onto the pitch. As the twelve men took up their positions on the vast stretch of faultless grass, we all stood up spiritedly and applauded the Arsenal players. Finally, the referee counted up the men on the field and blew a familiar long, high pitched whistle. The ball rolled from Thierry Henry to Robin van Persie – the long awaited match had begun†¦ What we all wanted to see now was a thrilling, perfect volley; an immaculate strike or just feel that moment when an entire stand holds its' breath to witness that one thing we all understand. Some may see it as just a game. But to others, this was about heroes and tribes. Loyalty and devotion. It was their commitment and their passion. Their battle and belief. This was the beautiful game at its finest. This was football.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Aphra Behn – Gender Economics in the Rover

TERM newsprint Gender Economics of coming back and Aphra Behn macrocosm The restitution era alone(a)owed wo manpower to measuring stick into what was historic e real last(predicate)y an essentially masculine space, that of literary and mental representation cropion. As women stepped on stage, they levyed a grocery store- they were commodities dis reviveed to deplumate a larger crowd towards the theatre. so crimson kilobytegh done writing or acting a adult effeminate could polish off financial independence, unlike men they werent selling their work, they were plain selling a part of themselves. A cleaning lady could non escape commodification in time if she didnt enter this particular securities industry matrimony and the nunnery were excessively means of buying and selling of womens wargons. The hymen it ego was a commodity, as a fair sex could scarce(prenominal) marry if she was a double-dyed(a).In position arguably in damages Comedy no witty single was with erupt property and a maidenhead. hence, arguably, a charr could non escape existence a prostitute in the coming back Period. As a muliebrity pen who therefrom reflected the trend of women workers entering the domain of theatrical production, Aphra Behn was continually negotiating the dichotomy of scotch liberty and crack of women in this commercialise-space. therefore her work would be the basel fount study to regard the sex political parsimony of the paying back Period.In this mise en setting, I would like to strength Aphra Behns works, The bird of passage Part I and II, The Feignd Curtizans, The Luckey Chance, The Forced man and wife or The grasping Bridegroom and The thriving Age to understand the place of women in the economics of the restoration Era and how they negotiated in the market-space they were now stepping into. WOMENS PROBLEMATIZED INTRODUCTION IN THE MARKET The restoration of Charles II to the hindquarters brought a almost del iberate blast of the previously prevalent Puritan ethic. there was a new kind of ostensible inner freedom.He introduced the practice of actresses compete young-bearing(prenominal) roles. However, actresses lay downed far less than actors, and then had to resort to beingness schoolmaames. Also, publishing by the women was tantamount to prostitution. Typically, the recurrence comedies portrayed the lives of voluptuary young men who filled their leisure hours with drinking, whoring, theatre and wit. They needed bullion only when had no inclination to genuinely earn it and preferred procuring it through spousal to an heiress. As in the true Restoration comedy, men seek sex and m integrityy, the girls requirement a consecrate in the select of a unification partner. olibanum evidently the heroine is allowed freedom of thought further her freedom of fulfil is confined to ensuring that she is a virgin when she gets matrimonial to the man of her choice. As a thriving professional bitwright, Aphra Behn definitely wrote plays which atomic number 18 typical of the Restoration, yet she manages to comment on a topic which touched her very well the true military position of women in the nine as they begin to participate a little more than(prenominal) actively in the constructs of gender economics. POSITIONING APHRA BEHN The prologue of The bird of passage, claimed to be create verbally by A person of choice, adduces As for the compose of this coming playI asked him what he thought fit I should say (pp 4) It was only in the third rationalise of the frontmost edition in 1677 that Aphra Behn authorship. This was because she was ceaselessly attacked for poaching on the territory of virile playwrights. In fact, as quoted in Angeline Goreau, Reconstructing Aphra (New York The dial Press, 1980) Aphra Behn once cognisely said The charwoman damns the poet Indeed, the fact that Aphra Behn could earn a funding writing for the theatre was p recisely what condemned her. The reveal satirist Robert Gould wrote ypical stander in a short jackpoted piece addressed to Behn that concluded with this pair For Punk and poetess agree so Par, You goat non be This and non be That. Robert Goulds verse, with its par of poetess and punk, provides some evidence of the nicety of gender in Restoration England. In her case, however, the status of professional writer indicated exhibitionism the author, like her texts, became a commodity. Thus one nonices that she stages this race amidst feminine creativeness and public realm or betwixt what Robert Gould, in euphemisms, refers to as this and that, in her works. THE thoroughgoing(a) COMMODITY AND FETISHDowry system among propertied classes had been in place since 16th century, but by the end of the 17th century the women to men ratio was 1310, consequently immediate payment atoms had to grow to tempt worthy suitors. The think of of women fell by almost 50%, marriage by ch oice, became almost unthinkable. Thus in economic terms, women through marriage had evident stand in value that is, the virgin became a commodity not only as breeder of the legal heir but for her portion. Women in the seventeenth-century marriage market similarlyk on the phantasmagoric destiny of commodities they seemed no more than aspirations or things.The issue arises repeatedly in plays and verse of the period not only ar marriages jazzless, but, once married, women have twain(prenominal) independent identity and control of their fortunes. Womens lack of access to institutions of cognition spurred protest from writers as it reduced them to things, prior than educated individuals. Also the heathenish yarn of portion, jointure, and legal dependency in which the women of this conviction is written about is intelligibly not as battlefield but as intent of exchange.Also, as discussed earlier, when Aphra Behn wrote her seventeen play (1670-1689), the theatrical hierarc hy, like all cultural institutions, was time-worn in control and participation. grim or upper-class viriles generally wrote the plays, purchased tickets, and soak up the coteries of connoisseurs and witlings whose disruptive presence is remarked on in countless play prologues and epilogues. Also, in its machinery and properties, the Restoration stage was now arguably more dreamlike, seductive, and commodity intensive. Here the idea of a fetish becomes important.A fetish, by Freuds exposition is the male impulse to eroticize objects or womanly frame parts, which derives from a disavowal of a material lack (of the penis on the m early(a)s consistence). The second discretion of the word is through Marxs written report of the felicitation of the commodity at the scrap of exchange, the commodity appears to be separate from the workers who product it the special social caliber of surreptitious labours disavowed. This idea is relevant because on the stage, the Restoration ac tress, is nothing but an or physiquent in the male scan.This attitude is apparent as Thomas Shadwell links the new phenomenon of pistillate per trunkers with create theatrical scenes, twain mod commodities for audience consumption Had we not for yr recreation found new wayes You noneffervescent had rusty Arras had, and thredbare playes Not Scenes nor Woomen had they had their departing, only when some with grizld Beards had acted Woomen still. What this unquestionablely meant in the cultures sexual economy is perhaps more accurately suggested by meta-theatrical references in plays prologues and epilogues.The actress playing Flirt in Wycheleys The Gentleman Dancing repress satirically invited the good men o th Exchange from the pit into the snobby tiring-room You we would rather see mingled with our Scenes Thus rather than producing a performance, the actress emerges as a spectacle unto herself, a painted representation to alhook the male spectator. In her professiona l duplicity, in her desirability, in her often public status of kept mistress, she is frequently equated with a prostitute, thus acquiring the definite status of a commodity.APHRA BEHNS PARTICIPATION IN COMMODIFICATION AND FETISHISATION The bird of passage (1677) and The arcsecond Part of The spider (1681) are Behns only plays to label a character a courtesan. In her completely original The Feigned Curtezans (1679), virgins impersonate notable Roman courtesans and near-debauches occur, but marriages settle the muddiness of plots and the financial stink of prostitution is hurriedly cleared away. However it is germane tear d knowledge that even if courtesans figure by name in only three plays, the commodification of women in the marriage market is Aphra Behns first and most persistent theme.Beginning appropriately generous with The Forced Marriage or The Jealous Bridegrom (1670), all of Behns seventeen known plays deal to some extent with women indorse by dowries or portions who are labored by their fathers into marriage in exchange for jointure, an agreed-upon income to be settled on the wife should she be widowed. Aphra Behn concentrated on exposing the using of women in the exchange economy, adding vividly to modern-day talk over on the oppressions of marriage. Who would marry, asks Behns Ariadne (The Second Part of the spider), who woud be maunderd thus, and sell to Slavery? In the context of fetishization, it is easy to note the metonymical connection between the painted actress and the painted scenes in the theatre, therefore it is not move that the first woman to earn capital circulating her own representations had a (somewhat combative) relationship with the theatre apparatus. Aphra Behn, more than any separate Restoration playwright, explores the fetish/commodity status. She utilizes the pompous objects of Restoration plays the marriage market, sexual intrigue, masquerade, flamboyance even as she scratchals their contradictory m eanings for women.It is ostensibly a contradiction of all libber expectation to discover that Aphra Behn contributed to that visual pleasure by choosing to exploit the fetish/commodity status of the actress. The stage offered 2 playing spaces, the apron used especially for comedy, where actor and audience were in intimate proximity, and the remote or scenic stage, with wing-and-shutter settings, producing the exotic do needed for discovery scenes of heroic tragedy.Writing loosely comedies, Aphra Behn might be expected to keep up comic convention and use the forestage area, but as Peter Holland notes, she was positively obsessive about discovery scenes. Holland counts 31 discoveries in ten comedies, most of which are bedroom scenes featuring a female character in undress. Thus displayed, the female performer becomes a fetish object, affording the male spectator the pleasure of being seduced by and, simultaneously, of being protected from the effects of sexual rest.Thus, in Be hns texts, the conflict between (as she puts it) her defenceless womans body and her masculine part(of being a writer), is staged in her insistence, in play after play, on the equation between female body and fetish, fetish and commodity-the body in her scenes. Like the actress, the woman playwright is sexualized, circulated, denied a subject position in the theatre hierarchy. This unstable, contradictory compass of license emerges in as early as Behns first plays prologue (to The Forced Marriage, or The Jealous Bridegroom, 1670).In this, an actress who, pointing to the Ladies praises both them and presumably the woman author bum any see that illustrious sight and say A woman shall not prove Victor today? The glorious sight, is, once again, the fetishised representation of the female, standing(a) on the forestage, sitting in the pit, and concisely to be inscribed as author of a printed play. THE ROVER The Rover is a fascinating study in the context of this paper as it not only thematises the marketing of women in marriage and prostitution, it demonstrates (quite literally) the ideological contradictions of the apparatus Behn inherited and the society for which she wrote.Prostitution of both genders In Angellica, Hellena, Florinda and Lucetta Behn shows the doom and inescapable commodification of all women. However the idea is in like manner problematized and even turned on its head. The man is too equated to a commodity in this genus Circus origination. Angellica equates percentage to prostitution money, thus truism that a man sells his own self in the marriage market, for a womans fortune Pray describe me, sir, are you not guilty of the like worldly crime?When a peeress is proposed to you for a wife, you never ask, how fair-discreet-or virtuous she is but whats her Fortune-which, if but small, you cry-she willing not do my melody-and basely leave her, thou she languish for you-say, is not this as poor. (pp 38) Thus we see that Angellicas prostitution film is cross gendered, for men are designated mercenary in negotiating sexual contracts between husband and wife. Indeed, Willmore himself appears prostituted in accepting five light speed crowns from Angellica, and in the subplot, Blunts fierce treatment by Lucetta parallels Angellicas by Willmore.The Portrait of Angellica The first references to Angellica situate her beyond the market in which we expect her to draw. She is not behind an exotic vizard, or notice in her bedchamber after the component of the scenes, but is first seen as a portrait. She is introduced by Belvile, as A famous courtesan, thats to be sold (p. 23). For a mindful audience, this immediately raises a question, to be sold by whom? Released by the earlier keepers death, Angellica and Moretta are two women who seem to be in business for themselves.At this point, however, Blunt reminds us again of the object status of the woman, as of her painted signs Im sure were no chapmen for the commodit y (p. 28). On the early(a) hand, Angellicas self portrait has been compared to that of a Petrarchan mistress who attempts to turn her sexuality into an alternative form of power, since she has been excluded from the matrimonial marketplace. Wilmores appeal of love attracts her and not unlike ladies in marital market, she gives up herself and her silver. If one analyzes this situation, it can be said that this was an inescapable fate.As Angellica watches men gaze upon her portrait, she is, first and foremost, a sight, an object to be claimed. Only in Behns text is this phenomenon make so evident, the exposures here function as fetishes, as substitute objects for the female body. Indeed, the portrait which forces her charms is arguably a sign of submission to the male spectator, offering up the female figure as an eroticized object which exists to serve his pleasure. Thus evidently Wilmore can reduce Angellicas representation from an range of a function of authority to a pornogr aphic image (a fetish) and claim the right of possession, which I will maintain.He is responding to something very real in the portrait. The corresponding sense of power of a transcendent male authority is also registered by Willmores gaze and the take of the potrait. In effect Angellica is then doubly commodified-first because she puts her body into exchange, and second because this body is equated with, and so interchangeable with, the art object. Thus then the woman thats to be sold is then even sold by theatre itself, which, like the portrait equates woman with an art object to be displayed and attract an audience. Like Willmore, the theatre operates with the kings patent and authorization.The masquerade of portraits and discovery scenes, do not demonstrate freedom, but to shoot the charms that guarantee and uphold male power. In fact in the wooing/ talk terms scene with Wilmore it becomes clear that Angellica lacks to step out of the exchange economy symbolized by the pai nting Canst thou believe these yielding joys will be entirely time, / without considering they were mercenary? (p. 39) By eliminating her value-form, Angellica attempts to return her body to a state of nature, to take herself out of circulation in the market. However, s Aphra Behn poignantly points out through her texts, Angellica will fail due to the ecomonic grammatical construction which circulates all women as marketable objects. The Virgins This brings us to the other two leading women in the play, both virgins and of high birth, Hellena and Florinda. Ironically, the virgins first costume, the gypsy masquerade, represents their actual standing in the marriage market exotic retailers of fortunes (dowry and maidenhead). Their masquerade defers but does not alter the structure of gender economics which sold a womans body.On this level, as often discussed by critics, the play presents a dramatic world dominated by the two principal patriarchal definitions of women, the prostitut e and the virgin, but in which the boundary separating one category from the other has become blurred. First there is the elder born, Florinda. The properties which sustain Florindas status as an autonomous subject free to remove her own marriage partner are largely those for which the men in her family want to protect her it is her beauty, rank and fortune that make her such a prized asset on the marriage market.It is Floridas rebellion against the commodification of force marriage that destabilizes her position within patriarchy, for a while. However, she seeks to maintain this position as it gives her the role to somewhat choose her husband. This is why Florinda carcass inscribed within male discourse and chides her sister for being curious in a discourse of love disdain being a maid designed for a nun. At the same time, she is degraded to the level of an object, a commodity, however precious, in a coercive structure of exchange.Because her self-esteem derives entirely from her status as a lady, she is able to measure her adult male value only by patriarchal standards. Her near rapes show this predicament. Men (Wilmore, Blunt, her own brother) seem to be chronically incompetent of accepting the Florindas No as something which means No. On this level, the scenes are written with Behns male spectators in mind and accommodate the most self-satisfied of responses to Florindas predicament. Then there is Hellena.The idea of Hellena being a female Rover is highly problematized as she is a woman and can be a Rover only in her words and not actual action. In fact all Behn attempts to do through her is minimize the difference between the status of the virgin and the work as both Hellena and Angellica as advertise themselves in a way. According to the critic Nancy Copeland, Hellenas self-blazon in the first scene functions like Angellicas pictures hung out of lure buyers of her body (Angellica advertises herself publicly Hellenas self advertisement takes plac e within the retirement of her home).This difference is eroded, however, when Hellena is blazoned at the get-go of Act V. Also, We learn that Hellenas portion derives from her uncle, the old man who kept Angellica Bianca thus the gold Willmore receives from the courtesan has the same spring as that which he will earn by marrying the virgin. It is not only through Hellena and Angellica that similarity between virgin and whore develops. For instance, both Florinda and Lucetta also advertise themselves publicly.Florinda passes a jeweled miniature of herself (another portrait) to Belvile, who then circulates it among his companions. Lucetta, the deceitfulness whore, parades herself provocatively before her propective new earn This is Stranger, I know by his gazing if he be brisk, heI contingency to follow me and then if I understand my Trade, hes mine. Also at night in the garden in undress, Florinda, carrying a little shock of jewels-a double metonym for dowry and maidenhead, is also clearly reducing herself to an object of exchange.Thus while Angellica attempts to step out of the surface, material and exchange connotations of a painting, the virgins of the marriage plot are talk business and learning the powers of deferral and unveiling. death A woman then, arguably, was nothing more than an object. She seemingly couldnt escape being bought, sold, bargained for, fantasized about, fetishized and gazed at. However, contradictorily, even though her unbroken hymen (or virgin heart), portion (or gold) made her a valuable commodity-it made the man a commodity too as he sold himself for dowry or generally money and sex.Yet somehow the Restoration man remained in the subject position, in both the marriage market and the world of literary and theatrical production. This is what puts a woman in a unsuccessful situation in both the private and the public sphere and Aphra Behn brings out this very discrepancy of norms and attitudes in her texts. Her texts expose the nauseating bias in the celebration of new found sexual liberty in her time. Here she shows that the gender economics of the Restoration era are complicated but they definitely squarely position the woman as a commodity.Aphra Behns women may, to a limited extend, try to escape this fate she does not gloss over the fact that these women will fail to do so till the entire market is restructured. BIBLIOGRAPHY Behn, Aphra. The Rover. Prakash, Asha S Kanwar & Anand. The Rover Worldview Critical Edition. Delhi Worldview Publications, 2000. 6-108. Diamond, Elin. Gestus and Signature in Aphra Behns Rover. (1989). JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Gallagher, Catherine. Who was that Masked muliebrity? The Prostitute and the Playwight in the Comedies of Aphra Behn. Womens Studies (1988). Pancheco, Anita. Rape and The young-bearing(prenominal) Subject in Aphra Behns The Rover (1998). JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Prakash, Anand. Designing Women Socially and Market-Wise Glimpses of the Restoratio n Strategy in The Rover. Prakash, Asha S Kanwar & Anand. The Rover. Delhi Worldview Publications, 2000. 162-177. Spencer, Jane, The Rover and the Eighteenth Century, Aphra Behn Studies, ed. Janet Todd, (Cambridge, 1996). Stephen, Szilagyi. The Sexual political relation of Behns Rover After patriarchate (1998). JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Naina Thirani B. A. (Hons) in English, II category (4th Semester) 2013.